Control and performance improvements of a pulse compressor in use for testing accelerating structures at high power

Abstract

New developments relating to compact X-band, SLED-I type pulse compressors being developed at CERN for testing high gradient structures are described. Pulse compressors of interest take rf pulses from one or more high power klystrons with duration typically >1.5 μs and deliver up to 5 times the input power for a shorter duration <250 ns. Time domain models for pulse compressor operation with low level rf (LLRF) control have been developed. Input drive amplitude and phase for each pulse is evolved with a control algorithm from the pulse compressor output for previous pulses. The goal is to deliver precise amplitude for pulses to test stands and precise amplitude and phase for pulses to accelerator systems. Control algorithms have been developed and validated experimentally.